


Drenched

by syusuke



Series: ANBU Kakashi [5]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Anbu Hatake Kakashi, Anbu Yamato | Tenzou, Blood and Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Gen, Heavy Angst, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu | Shadow Clone Technique, The Author Regrets Nothing, author was poked and responded accordingly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:08:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23450707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syusuke/pseuds/syusuke
Summary: Kakashi’s voice was steady and neutral, bare of any emotion. When he put the katana away Kakashi traced the handle lightly, almost reverently.“Every weapon has its use and its limitations."-- No one can win every fight, not even Hound. --
Series: ANBU Kakashi [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1189593
Comments: 22
Kudos: 83
Collections: The Kakashi Lounge





	Drenched

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Rain event over on the Kakashi Lounge Server

Another rainy day – Hound paid no attention to the heavy drops soaking his hair and uniform. There was nothing he could do about it.

He dodged several shuriken by diving low, using the narrow opening between two enemies to rush past them. The shuriken’s whizz echoed faintly as he whirled around, his blade coming back up in one long slash. He grabbed the handle with his other hand just in time to build up enough force to behead the man and follow through, catching the second one across the shoulder. The blade stopped, his muscles screaming in protest as they failed him. He lost his grip, stumbling out of range as he struggled to regain balance.

Hound hesitated. The blade was stuck in the other’s armor. He’d never free it quick enough.

A high pitched thrumming sound caught his attention, but he could see no source. He threw his arms up on instinct, finding himself struggling with all his might just a split second later, immobilized by ninja wire that would have cut easily through his flesh if it weren’t for the armguards.

One enemy forced to his knees in front of him. Likely stunned by the previous attack. Low threat. Ignore.

The pull on the wire was strong. Two or three enemies grappling him then. Leaves rustling. To his right and up. Steps behind him. Quick. Approaching. Whizzing kunai. Big target on his back.

He growled, unable to pull free.

_If he had to go down…_

Hound strained against the wire as much as he could. His muscles tensed, arms pushing apart, shifting his weight to the ball of his feet. He heard the shinobi behind him unsheath a sword, heard grunts farther away. Then he twisted and jumped up as high as he could, spinning fast, reeling in the wire in the process. The pull didn’t ease up. _Good._

He couldn’t see anything, vision blurred by rapid movement, but he heard surprised and angry shouts getting louder, heard metal clanging as they fumbled for gear. He hoped the timing would work, it was no longer within his power.

Hound howled in pain as he felt the sword pierce through his gut. _Just a little longer._ He saw the tip of the blade and grabbed it immediately, pulling it further until a body hit his back.

Then – just for a moment – the battlefield fell eerily quiet, before it exploded into bright light and the angry cries of a thousand birds.

* * *

“Senpai!”

Cat froze as realization hit him. Lightning went up in a flare a few hundred meters behind him, taking out enemies he hadn’t noticed. Their dying shouts carried loud and clear through the valley.

His own opponent twisted free, yanking the tanto out of Cat’s thigh that he had lodged in there before. A string of curses escaped Cat at his own lack of attention while his knee buckled, forcing him down. He braced for impact, resigned to block the slash no matter the pain. He shielded his eyes, as he was momentarily blinded by bright light. A gush of warm blood splashed him. Most of it was deflected by his mask and armor. And then… nothing else hit him.

“Get up. We need to hurry.”

Cat blinked the black dots away as the light disappeared. He saw a pale shaking hand, covered in blood, pulling back, revealing the hole in his enemy’s chest. As the body crumbled to the ground another hand appeared in front of him, this one not shaking, less bloody. Cat looked up, unable to understand. A familiar silhouette before him, once silver hair now dripping red.

“How?”

Hound grabbed Cat’s shoulder and pulled him up with a grunt. As soon as he saw the leg injury he reached for his pouch. A quiet huff escaped him as his shaking fingers refused to undo the button. The second try succeeded and he managed to bandage the injury, putting on enough pressure to stop the bleeding for now.

“Senpai.. How? The fight behind us?”

They shuffled around a bit to find a somewhat comfortable way for Cat to walk without opening his wound again.

“Shadow clone. Now hold on. We need to move.”

* * *

“Captain, can I ask you something?”

Kakashi kept his eyes trained on the blade he was polishing. They were alone in the small common room. Anbu headquarters was mostly empty. Team Ro was currently on standby. Standard procedure. Their assignments would change now. They were short a member.

Kakashi had carried Boar all the way back, not even stopping to acknowledge the gatekeepers. He had delivered his subordinate into the hands of Konoha’s lead medic. But some wounds could not be healed. The blood loss had been too severe and Boar lost his last battle leaving behind a civilian wife.

The whole team had paid her their respect. A hollow gesture really and the woman saw it for what it was. She shouted at them, mostly at Hound. Their Captain had forbidden them to take off their masks. Their identities were classified after all, but Kakashi’s hair was unmistakeable and she had recognized him, cursed him out, even clawing at his armor, shaking him. She had been crying without restraints, raging.

Hound had ordered them to leave. As far as Tenzou could tell his Captain just took all of it. The rage, the guilt, the grief. He took it without saying a word.

When he returned, he changed out of his blood soaked uniform into simple workout gear and went to the common room. A silent invitation for the team. He had done this before. No one dared to approach though – except Tenzou.

“Captain?”

Kakashi looked up at the second call. His visible eye was drooping more than usual, deep lines proof of his exhaustion. He gave a small nod.

“Back then Takeshi used a shadow clone. He said he could feel the clone die. And the medic.. She said the shock of feeling that.. It might have been too much for him and it… Well..”

“The medic was right. The shock of a memory like that and the fatigue it transfers back to the original are the drawbacks of that technique. That’s why the Nidaime classified it as a forbidden jutsu.”

Kakashi’s voice was steady and neutral, bare of any emotion. When he put the katana away Kakashi traced the handle lightly, almost reverently.

“Every weapon has its use and its limitations. Takeshi was not ready. He gave me his word he’d only use shadow clones with my permission when I started training him. But he got reckless.”

Tenzou saw the subtle rise and fall of Kakashi’s mask, he saw it stretch. He could guess the words Kakashi held back. Anger at himself and at Takeshi. Guilt too, even if it was well hidden under a front of indifference. But that was not what was eating away at Tenzou. Losing another Anbu was expected – as hard as it could be, they all knew the risks.

The bit that bothered him, what no one expected...

“Senpai, how many times have you felt yourself die?”

Kakashi’s eye widened, then it narrowed to a small slit, but Tenzou interrupted before he could change the topic.

“Don’t lie to me. Not today.”

Tenzou saw how Kakashi tensed even further. He had hit a raw spot and he did feel guilty about it, but it was the only way to get an honest answer.

“It doesn’t matter.”

He was right then. It had happened. More than once.

“It matters to me.”

“ENOUGH! I know the risks. _Drop it_.”

Anyone else would falter, turn around and run. But not Tenzou, not today. If the medic really told the truth, Kakashi was toying with his life.

“How many times?”

Kakashi tried to push past his Kohai, but stopped taken aback by the strong grip on his shoulder. Tense and sure, so different from Takeshi who had been limp on his back. The grip was almost painful. Foolish, determined man, trying to offer help where none was wanted. He would make a good leader some day.

 _Fine._ If that was how he wanted to play, Kakashi would tell him.

“Have you noticed that it rains wherever I go?”

“That’s… not really the case?!”

“It is. One day you’ll see it too.”

With that Kakashi shook the hand off and left the building through the window instead of forcing his way past Tenzou. He’d had enough confrontations for the day.

The ability to feel heat was the first thing he’d lost to his chakra nature,but he knew it wouldn’t be the last. Not with the overuse of Raikiri - piercing through his enemies’ chests, overstimulated nerves singing in pain and forcing his hands to shake more often than not.

He’d still felt it when Rin… Her body had been so much warmer than his. It had felt as if her blood was burning him.

It was different now. He could no longer tell whether the liquid in his hair was simply cold rain water or blood.

For Hound it was raining every day.

**Author's Note:**

> For all the Loungers: YOU KNOW WHY THIS HAPPENED! I was a lot nicer than y'all deserved me to be.


End file.
